Have you missed me? I'm guessing posts will be fewer now that school has begun, but I will surely try for at least once a week. And I will rely heavily on the kindness of others, too ~ meaning I will use that wonderful copy-and-paste feature on my computer.

First, though, I will share with you that we have late-summer kittens in the neighborhood. One stray had a litter over by Elly's in some unknown location, and another stray had hers literally by my back stoop. I saw them when I was carrying in groceries Saturday. She kept them there overnight and then moved them to a more secure location this morning ~ thanks be to God because I was a frazzled mess trying to keep watch over them in their fairly exposed location. She had four, but one didn't survive. Five dead kittens in one summer is a little hard on the emotions, but I managed. We definitely didn't need more kittens in the neighborhood, but I don't want to decrease their population through death.

Now for the *borrowed* part of this post. I subscribe to a daily kitty newsletter from a wonderful place called PetPlace.com. Today's e-mail included recipes for homemade kitty treats. *I* will certainly give Julia Child no competition, but I thought maybe some of you with more culinary expertise would like to try them:

The pet stores are full of cat treats. But did you know that you can make your own healthy kitty treats at home? Here are some recipes to help you find a way to your cat's heart:

Savory Cheese Treats

* 3/4 cup white flour
* 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 5 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

# 1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
# 1/4 cup cornmeal

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine cheeses and yogurt. Add flour and cornmeal. If needed, add a small amount of water to create a nice dough. Knead dough into a ball and roll to 1/4 inch. Cut into one inch sized pieces and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Makes 2 dozen.

Chick N'Biscuits

* 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/3 cup cornmeal
* 1 tablespoon soft margarine

Preheat the over to 350 F. # Combine chicken, broth and margarine and blend well. Add flour and cornmeal. Knead dough into a ball and roll to 1/4 inch. Cut into one-inch sized pieces and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 18 cookies.

Crispy Liver Morsels

* 1/2 cup cooked chicken livers
* 1/4 cup water
* 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/4 cup cooked carrot, mashed
* 1 tablespoon soft margarine

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place well-done livers in a blender with 1/4 cup water. In a bowl, combine flour and margarine. Add liver mixture and carrots and knead dough into a ball. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut into one-inch sized pieces. Place cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 F for 10 minutes. Makes 12 cookies.

Tuna Tidbits

* 6 ounce can of tuna
* 1/4 cup water drained from tuna
* 3 T cooked egg white, chopped
* 1/4 cup cornmeal
* 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine tuna, egg white and water. Add cornmeal and flour and blend to form a dough. Knead into a ball and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into one-inch sized pieces. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Makes 12 cookies.

Happy cooking!

[The image at the top of this post was borrowed from Whimsy of Andrea.]